Russia’s armed forces are going to start reestablishing an abandoned military base on the Kola Peninsula in September this year, Commander of the Western Military District Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov said on Friday, Regnum reports.
Sidorov did not say which of the old military bases they plan to reopen. There are several more or less dilapidated bases on the Kola Peninsula – from Liinakhamari on the border to Norway in the West to Gremikha on the coast of the Barents Sea in the East.
Russia last year started reconstructing abandoned Soviet airfields in the Arctic. In September the Temp airfield on the New Siberian Islands was re-opened by Northern Fleet units. Also airfields in Franz Josef Land and on Novaya Zemlya are planned to be reopened in the near future.
Earlier this week a military source told about plans to create a new strategic formation - Northern Fleet-United Strategic Command - that will have as its main objective to defend Russia’s interests in the Arctic. The strategic command will consist of the Northern Fleet and units of other military branches located in the northern parts of the country. It will have status of a military district, although it will not be called so officially.
Sidorov did not want to comment on the information on the possible establishment of the Arctic united strategic command, referring to that this is a question the nation’s leadership is in charge of. “When instructions come, we will implement them”, he said and added that the Western Military District has all the personnel and military equipment needed for operations in the Arctic, ITAR-TASS reports.
